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Marktplatz 11Nördlingen

Slice of Rieskratertorte, the house speciality

Rieskratertorte Konditorei Altreuter · Nördlingen

Our house speciality. The layers lie at a slant, like the rock at the rim of the Ries crater that Nördlingen sits in.

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Rieskratertorte is the house speciality of Konditorei Altreuter at Marktplatz 11 in Nördlingen. Light sponge and chocolate sponge lie at a slant in arrack buttercream, with a layer of marzipan and a coat of dark couverture. Slices are sold at the counter; whole cakes are made to order.

Nördlingen
A slice of Rieskratertorte from the side: light sponge and chocolate sponge at a slant in arrack buttercream under dark couverture

From the impact to the cake

  1. 14.8 million years ago

    Rock in layers

    Beneath the Ries lie granite and gneiss, then Keuper sandstone and the Jurassic: black, brown and white.

  2. impact

    The impact

    An asteroid about one kilometre across strikes at more than 70,000 km/h.

  3. seconds later

    A crater 25 kilometres wide

    At first it is about 750 metres deep. At the rim the layers tip and slide over each other.

  4. minutes later

    Suevite

    Glassy rubble rock falls back into the crater. The Daniel is built of this suevite.

  5. 2 million years

    A lake

    A shallow lake fills the crater and silts up over about two million years.

  6. today

    Nördlingen in the crater

    The town lies near the middle of the Ries. Since 2022 the Ries has been a UNESCO Global Geopark.

  7. at the rim

    Slanted layers

    At the rim the layers still lie at a slant.

  8. in the cake

    The Rieskratertorte

    In a slice the layers slant the same way. This is how we read them:

    1. Dark couvertureSuevite
    2. Light spongeWhite Jurassic
    3. Chocolate spongeBrown and Black Jurassic
    4. MarzipanKeuper sandstone
    5. Bottom layerGranite and gneiss

What's in the cake

The whole cake is cut into 16 slices, each topped with a white chocolate plaque showing the Geopark Ries crater. Slices are at the counter in the café at Marktplatz 11; whole cakes are made to order.

Order a whole cakeAll cakes+49 9081 4319
  • Dark couverture
  • White chocolate plaque
  • Light sponge and chocolate sponge
  • Arrack buttercream
  • Marzipan

The Ries in dates

  1. 14.8 million years ago

    Impact

    An asteroid makes a crater 25 kilometres wide.

  2. 1454 – 1539

    The Daniel

    The tower of St. Georg is built of suevite from the Alte Bürg quarry.

    Our history

  3. 1960

    The proof

    Eugene Shoemaker and Edward Chao find coesite in the suevite. The Ries is an impact crater, not a volcano.

  4. 1970

    Apollo 14

    The astronauts train in the Ries and visit our café.

    The visit

  5. 1990

    RiesKraterMuseum

    The museum in Nördlingen opens, with moon rock from Apollo 16.

  6. 2022

    UNESCO Global Geopark

    After the National Geopark (2006), UNESCO takes the Ries into its network.

Questions about the Rieskratertorte

What is a Rieskratertorte?

The house speciality of Konditorei Altreuter in Nördlingen. Light sponge and chocolate sponge lie at a slant in arrack buttercream, with marzipan and dark couverture.

Where can I buy Rieskratertorte?

At our café and pastry shop at Marktplatz 11 in Nördlingen. To order a whole cake, call +49 9081 4319 or use our enquiry form.

Does the Rieskratertorte contain alcohol?

Yes, the buttercream is flavoured with arrack.

How was the Ries crater formed?

About 14.8 million years ago an asteroid roughly one kilometre across struck. The crater is about 25 kilometres wide.

What is the Daniel built of?

Largely of suevite, a rock formed by the impact.

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